Opinion

The Maze of Homelessness

June 19, 2014

To the Editor:

I enjoyed Maria Konnikova’s June 15 Sunday Review article, “No Money, No Time,” which mentioned the irony that unemployment and poverty often bring greater time demands. To some extent, it is a result of a well-meaning “support” system that burdens beneficiaries even as it seeks to provide basic supports.

In decades of advocating for people experiencing homelessness in New York City, I know how difficult we make it for people in need to get the things they need to get through a day.

In the name of assistance, people must meet with case workers, employment counselors, shelter staff and school administrators. But schedules and locations are not coordinated, children must be picked up at school and dinner put on the table, and forget it if you have a low-wage job to boot.

Long waits are the norm, but being late can result in a “noncompliance” often starting a new round of appointments and hearings.

Beneficiaries who pursue their rights routinely win after another maze of appointments in geographically dispersed places. Oh, and did I mention housing court? We’ve made it awfully hard to get help.